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Cameron County officials move to new health-insurance consortium citing projected savings
Summary
County leaders said they will drop their current insurer, Divot, and enroll with the Schubert consortium. Officials said employee coverage will remain the same and staff expect a 7–9% savings compared with last year's costs; officials also noted the county's roughly $420,000 health-insurance expense baseline.
Cameron County officials announced plans to leave their current insurer, Divot, and enroll in a different consortium, Schubert, saying the shift should lower the county's health-insurance costs while keeping employee benefits the same.
Chair (S3) said county leaders are exploring the move to balance employee coverage and fiscal responsibility, and told the meeting that the change could yield "anywhere from 7 to 9%" savings compared with last year's costs on a program the county described as a roughly $420,000 expense. "So exploring that is a way that we're trying to make sure that we're balancing taking care of our employees ... while also making sure we're being fiscally conservative," S3 said.
In an earlier report, S4 said the county expects to "drop Divot, and we will be enrolling with another consortium, Schubert," adding, "We're gonna see a savings of almost $5,000." S4 said staff rates for county employees "will stay the same as what we have currently" and that open-enrollment rates should not increase this year. S3 later framed the savings as a larger percentage (7–9%) relative to last year's total county insurance costs.
County staff said they have notified Divot of the planned change and are finalizing details ahead of the open-enrollment period. Officials said the county will aim to preserve the existing benefit plan design for employees while capturing insurance-premium savings.
The change was discussed as part of routine administrative reports; no formal vote to finalize the switch was recorded during the meeting. County leaders said savings from the move will be considered as part of ongoing budget planning and the priority-based budgeting process the county is beginning to adopt.
The county's next steps: finalize enrollment logistics with Schubert, confirm any timelines for employee notice and open enrollment, and fold projected savings into the upcoming budget discussions. The chair said staff would continue coordinating details with commissioners and bring specific numbers forward as they are confirmed.
